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A Basin Opens For The Season

ARAPAHOE BASIN, Colo. (CBS4) - Dozens of people lined up around the chairlift at A Basin Thursday as excited skiers and snowboarders hit the slopes.

Arapahoe Basin became the second ski area in Colorado this fall to open. Wolf Creek Ski Area in southern Colorado opened last weekend to skiers but so far is only open on the weekends.

Just before 9 a.m. there were a couple hundred people partying and getting ready to start their season at A Basin. There was a big rush of people trying to land the first chair of the day, but the same foursome that has been on the first chair for the past 16 years did it again.

The first two official chairs to head up on the lift in the morning were decorated with bows off and sent up to honor two of the founders of the ski resort who died this year.

"It's a big sense of relief to pull it off," resort COO Alan Henceroth said. "I know we're going to be open 7 days a week from now until June so I know I've got a lot of work ahead of me."

Only one run is open at the resort right now and it has a base of about 18 inches.

RELATED PHOTO GALLERY: Independence Day Skiing At A Basin

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